unidentified flying object
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.53 in modern English
47
Scrabble Score
24
Letters
5
Syllables
14
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Anything not readily explainable appearing to move through or be suspended in the air.
noun
Anything not readily explainable appearing to move through or be suspended in the air.
Example Sentences
- "The lights seen over the city last night, originally termed unidentified flying objects, turned out to be spotlights from a car dealership reflecting on low clouds."
- "The U.S. Air Force says, people have been reporting unidentified flying objects since around 1700—and probably a long time before that."
- "She said that the unidentified flying object then turned around, zoomed to a higher altitude, and loitered briefly before speeding off."
- "A spokesman said this about a revival of reports of unidentified flying objects, popularly known as flying saucers."
- "The U.S. and Canada are investigating three unidentified flying objects shot down over North America in the past three days. Militaries have adjusted radars to try to spot more incursions."
- "He said that the strange beings then took him aboard their unidentified flying object and examined his body."
Etymology
The phrase is usually attributed to US Air Force officer Edward J. Ruppelt (1923–1960) who coined it as a replacement of the terms flying saucer and flying disk.